I am looking forward to the Worship Service coming this Sunday at Eagleville Bible Church! Our Pastor is doing a Sermon series right now through the book of Philippians, and it has been awesome and very insightful! This week’s message will be on Phil 3:17-21, and I cannot wait to hear an exposition of this text from our Pastor – Bill McMinn!
The songs for this week (6/6/21) and the Scriptures that go along with them are:
Death was Arrested
- Eph 2:12,
- John 14:18,
- 2 Cor 5:17,
- Gal 5:1,
- Luke 1:68,
Furious
- Rom 8:37,
- Eph 3:16-19,
- John 3:16,
- 1 John 3:1,
Graves into Gardens
- Isa 61:3,
- Eph 2:5,
- Ps 30:11,
- Ps 106:9,
- Eze 37:1-10,
- John 15:15
- Isa 46:9,
What a Beautiful Name
- John 1:1-2,
- Phil 2:9-11,
- Luke 10:9,
- Heb 2:14-15,
Today is the Day
- Phil 3:13-14,
- Jer 29:11,
- Ps 118:24,
- Eph 6:14,
- Matt 6:25-33,
Devotional Thought
I have watched over the past few days people ridicule and weaponize words against people of opposing views, and it is so disheartening and quite frankly childish! I can’t stand living in such a political culture that we shame people and seek to destroy those who believe differently than us. Whatever happened to the arena of discussion and opinion that actually valued another’s point of view, and sought to learn and grow from it? Whatever happened to healthy examination of oneself, understanding that we could have it wrong and should be humble enough to admit it if that is the case? Why are we seeing so many people attacking opposing views with malicious intent, to absolutely silence the opposition?
Honestly, it shouldn’t surprise us that this is still happening in our world today. Jesus Christ and His followers have always had to deal with this sort of opposition, even to the point of death. The people desiring to have power and authority (Jewish leaders, Roman leaders, etc.) absolutely hated Jesus and the message that He delivered to them – “You are not living Godly lives, your hearts are not right, believe in Me and follow My way, repent, and forsake your sinful ways.” They hated that! They wanted to have spiritual elitism, status in society that protected their agenda of power and influence (sound familiar?). The worst part about it was (especially as it pertains to the Jewish Leaders) that they were using God and His Word to promote an agenda that went contrary to God’s heart!
In the Philippians 3 passage that Pastor Bill will be preaching from Sunday, we see that Paul was dealing with a similar thing as well. In Phil 3:18 he says, “For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.” Enemies of the Cross of Christ! These people were coming into the Synagogues and twisting the Word of God in order to align it with their false and deceptive message. They were leading good-intentioned people astray, and trying to destroy the opposing view (Paul and the Apostles of Christ) and their influence. These people were so hungry for influence and power that they were willing to twist the Word of God and use it in a malicious way that was deceptive and damaging to those they were subjecting it upon! This is so wrong!
The rulers of the day also did this to our Savior Jesus too. It actually says that many “false witnesses” came forward and shared “false testimonies” to try and convict Jesus of something bad enough that it would require a death sentence! They hated the fact that they were being called out so much so that they were willing to lie and twist Jesus’ message in order to get Him killed (let the reader hear and understand the implications of what is being said!). There are some in our society right now that seek the same end for those of us that stand upon the never changing Truths of God’s Word! O’, that the foundation of the Bible would remain our solid stepping point for us to continually draw our source of information from as we engage a lost world in the arena of the mind!
The bad news is that the rulers of that day succeeded, and Jesus Christ had to endure a brutal punishment that ultimately led to His death upon the Cross! They actually silenced Him, and for 3 days thoughts they had gained rule and authority again. Little did they know that their Savior (yes, that’s right – Jesus is the Savior of the world! Even those who seek to destroy Him can come to Him for Salvation and forgiveness when they are willing to submit to His Authority as Lord [see Saul’s conversion to Paul!]), Jesus Christ was not dead, He was overcoming the power of death as they celebrated their short-lived victory! Jesus was arresting death and it’s power over people through the power of His Name, which the Father exalted above every other name!
The Good news is that on the 3rd day, Jesus was raised again with the power of death in His mighty Hands as He gave us all access to eternal life through Him! He overcame the power of the enemy! He rose to life everlasting! He provided everything we need in that single moment to walk as New Creations when we come to Him in faith! Jesus did it!! The Truth overcame the lies!
This is a principle that we must all hold fast to – the Truth will always prevail! We cannot move from the Word of God! We cannot and do not need to twist or contort the message found within the covers of the Bible to try and “win” an argument with those that oppose us! We must only stand firm upon the Word and use it with purity and accuracy! We must allow the message to do the talking for us! We must never move from it’s foundation, compromising what we know to be true in the hopes that the lost will be persuaded! It is not our job to persuade the lost, it is our job to declare the unadulterated Truth of God’s Word without wavering!
So, what is that Truth? God loves us! That is the Truth and we should never be ashamed to declare that message! God loves us! You may be saying, “Well yeah, but isn’t that what the other’s are saying too?”. Ahh yes, but this is where twisting and contorting takes place, and this simple yet profound message of love actually becomes the dividing force in our world today. You see, some will say that because God loves us, we are free to live our lives as we want and He will be ok with anything we choose. He will still love us. And, while this is true – God absolutely does still love us (as evidenced by the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross), the implications of such a message is not true! The world equates love and acceptance equally, whereas the Bible systematically does not. Please do not misunderstand, ANYONE is accepted/acceptable in God when they come to Him broken and ready to repent of their sinful ways. It doesn’t matter what they have done, God is ready to accept them and to offer a changed life in Christ for each of us! The problem though is that the agenda(s) of the day is trying to convince the world that we are acceptable to God no matter what condition we are in, and intend to stay in. This is where the message of love and acceptance falls off of the rails of the true Gospel railway!
When we come to God seeking His salvation and deliverance, we must be willing to do it His way and to forsake our way! You see, if we are not willing to see things God’s way and make make Him into an image that fits our agenda, then what happens is that we actually put ourselves in the position of god in our lives. Yes, God is a jealous God, but He will not be in competition with other so-called god’s that we have in our lives (even if that so-called god is ourselves). He will allow us to get what we need from them, and will be patient enough to wait right where He is (He never moves or changes, He is always the same) until we see the error in our ways and come back to Him to receive what the other so-called gods could never provide for us! We cannot expect to make the agenda(s) that we are seeking god in our lives, and have the blessing of the One True God too! We cannot serve two masters! Either you will love the one and hate the other, or you will be devoted to one and despise the other – You cannot serve God and ……. (see Matt 6:24)
You can see through that simple analogy of God’s love how quickly the true message of God’s Word can get twisted and made to mean something completely different from its original intent. Yes, God’s love is always there for everyone in this world, but His love demands change and holiness when we come to Him seeking His salvation. The same is true of His grace, hope, healing, guidance, eternal life, etc.. We have to follow His ways, not ours! Please don’t allow someone else’s contortion of God’s Word to steer you down the wrong road that ultimately keeps them in control of you and damages your life. God has so much better in store for you if you will only take Him at His Word, follow it from a pure heart, and seek to please Him through faith!
The act of Christ dying on the cross for us is proof enough that God loves us, and delivered us from the power of death and darkness in our lives! That beautiful Name of Jesus, that is more powerful than any other Name, is a strong tower for all of us to run to and seek fortress in when we are meeting resistance from the opposing views around us seeking to silence our message! When that is happening to us – true followers of Christ – take courage because you are in great company! Just as Christ Himself did, keep coming back to the Word in response to the temptations of the enemy(s). His Word will never fail us!
Finally, as a means of encouragement to all that read this post. In keeping with Philippians 3, please remember that Jesus Christ is coming back to take us to be with Him in heaven – our true citizenship! He will transform our lowly bodies to be like His, and we shall see the subjection of everything under the power and authority of His matchless Name! Every agenda, power, principality, and person will see Him for who He truly is – God Almighty!!
Stay strong, stand on the Word, and stay fixed upon Jesus! God bless you!